Lost
by EmilyJade91
Summary: Hilary has gone missing and she's left questions that need answers, to find out why she's gone missing.
1. 48 Hours

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade or any characters.

A/n: I've been watching a lot of Veronica Mars lately and this popped into my head.

Chapter One: 48 Hrs

!#

September 22nd.

It's the day my best friend goes missing. I don't know until I'm being pulled out of biology and into the principal's office.

"Mariah?" Mr Johnson asked.

I looked up at him. A police detective is standing behind him. "Yes?"

Mr Johnson re-clasps his hands, obvious that something is wrong. Why else wasn't he ranting about something. "This morning, it was discovered that Hilary Tachibana was missing."

I look up at him. Hilary is missing? What? Since... "When?" I asked him. Hilary Tachibana is my best of fourteen years. And now she was missing.

"Her mother apparently saw her last night before she went to bed. Have you spoken to Hilary?"

Yesterday, after school. '_I'm going to take a trip down the yellow brick road down the rabbit hole_' that's what she last said to me, but I'm not telling him. It just makes Hilary sound loony and like she's been smoking pot. "The last time I spoke to her was yesterday. At school. That's it."

"Did she mention anything lately about... running away? Or anything like that?"

I shook my head. Hilary once spent 17 hours missing back in the ninth grade. She decided that she wanted to join the circus, did so and then broke her wrist trying to do a back-flip. "Hilary wouldn't do something like that." I look down at my watch. 11:33. "I'm sure of it."

Mr Johnson looks at me. He's concerned. Hilary Tachibana's best friend. And I don't know anything. "If you think of anything, just come and tell me. Anything." I'm allowed to go and I rush out of his office. There is no way I'm going back to biology. Instead, I'm roaming up towards the north corridor, towards the student car park and the library. My best friend is missing. Missing. What do they mean by missing? Was she kidnapped? Did she runaway? How can she just not be there? I look up at the sound of sneakers hitting the ground. Kai Hiwatari. Late as usual. He was rushing down the hall, his sidekick open in his hand. He looked pale. Like he just thrown up everywhere. He breezes past me. I've never been on his radar as a friend, even though Rei is friends with him. Everyone is nice to me. I guess it's the perks of being the girlfriend of quarterback of the football team. Rei and I have been dating since freshman year. My phone vibrates and it's a message from Rei, asking if I'm coming back to biology. I step outside and breathe in the fresh air. I look over to my left and there is a puddle of vomit. I was right.

$#

I pull up out the front of Hilary's house. Hilary's mom must be home because her car is there. There's another car, I presumed it was her grandfathers and then Hilary's. Silver Mitsubishi lancer, a present from her grandfather for her sixteenth birthday. Her mother hated how her grandfather splashed out on Hilary, but Hilary loved it. I get out my car and walk up to Hilary's. Like usual, it was littered with junk, clothes and her school books. I was hoping to see her handbag or her cell, like it was some kind of really, really bad joke that I was experiencing or I was dreaming. Am I dreaming? Because I can't think this would actually happen in real life. Or maybe Ashton is punking me? I pinch myself. Nope, definitely not a dream and I can't see any camera men anywhere. I walk up the front stoop and knock on the front door.

"Oh, Mariah." Ms Tachibana says as she opens the door. She grabs me and pulls me into a hug.

"I'm so sorry, Ms Tachibana. I came straight away after I heard."

She pulls away, and looks up. "School... you should be in school." Tears well up in her eyes. "Hilary should be in school." She started sobbing.

I awkwardly patted her on the back. What was I meant to say? Yes, Ms Tachibana, normally would be in school, but you see, she likes to blow off fifth period. "I know." She lets me into the house and leeds me into the living room. Hilary's grandfather stares at me. I've met him about twice ever and all I know about him is that he is rich, powerful and down right scary. "Hello." I said, quietly.

"Mariah." He nodded his head.

Ms Tachibana has gone into the kitchen, leaving me alone with him. I sit across from him, on the couch, dropping my bag like a loud thud. This isn't what I was expecting what i'd do today, when I woke up. I thought it would be like any other Wednesday. That i'd go to school, spend my lunch period listening to the boys talk about football, Hilary talking about some conquest that she'd try to snag at the up-coming party, that she'd tell me little clues into her normal psycho babble routine of craziness. But no. It's 12:13 and I'm in her living room, sitting across from her grandfather after learning that, she is in fact, gone.

"Tea?"

I turn around. "Yes, Please." I took the hot mug out of Hilary's mom's hands and set it down. I look down at my hands. "How long has Hilary been missing?" I asked.

Hilary's mom looked down. "I don't know. I went to bed at 10 last night and I woke up at 7 and she was gone." She looked over at Hilary's grandfather. "Her window was open slightly and her cell is gone."

It seemed a little unusual that Hilary still had her cell, if she was running away or had been kidnapped. I know if I ran away, I would take my cell, because of all the fancy technological stuff that could trace your every move. I look up at the stairs. "Could I see her room?" I asked. "Please?"

"Sure." I rushed up to the stairs, and walked along the hallway. As long as I've known Hilary, she had always lived in this house. She lived with her mom. Hilary's dad's never been in her life. I don't even know his name or seen a picture of him. I opened Hilary's door. Still messy and still smelled funky. Hilary was the biggest slob I've ever met. Her bed was unmade, half of the sheets were hanging off. Her clothes were spilling out of her drawers. I wonder if any of them were missing. She had tons of clothes so it would be impossible to tell. I poked around her bedside table. The letter I had written her yesterday was sitting there, open. I lifted it up, re-reading what I had written. Our plans of our prom dresses. The plan to get Hilary a prom date. How I was gunning to go to Sarah Lawrence next fall. How I didn't know how I was going to leave her next fall. I looked underneath the letter. A movie ticket stub. Hilary saw The Town last night at 6:45. Hilary never mentioned going to the movies. Did she go alone? Who would she go with other than me? Tyson? No, they broke up over a year ago now. I wrinkled my nose at the thought of them getting back together. After everything that happened after they broke up? No way. I opened the drawer. Hilary's journal. I grabbed her journal and jammed it into my bag. Along with the movie ticket. Standing back up and walking towards her closet I noticed her notice board. It was full of photos. Photos of Hilary and I growing up. Tears started to form. My best friend was missing. I was beginning to think she was hiding secrets from me.

%

Hilary's journal was in my closet. I hadn't even opened it. I couldn't open it. I had a plan of confronting Tyson. To work if he was the one with Hilary the night before she went missing. The ticket was burning a hole in the back of jeans.

"Mariah!" I turned around. Ray, in his letterman's jacket, was running towards me. "Babe!" He hugged me. "I heard."

I looked up at him. "About Hilary?" I asked. We lived in a semi small town. People were bound to talk.

"Yeah, how you dealing?" He asked as we began to walk down the hall.

I shrugged my shoulders. "The best way I can. I just can't believe she's not here."

"Either can I. Usually she's walking down the hall, winking at some boy or talking about... stuff she usually goes on about." He squeezed my hand. "She'll be back before you know it."

"Kon! Dude!"

Ray turned around. He waved. "I have to go. But I'll call you later?" I nodded. He kissed my forehead and left.

I felt more alone than before. I really didn't have any friends other than Hilary and Ray. Sure, people spoke to me but I was never rarely without Hilary and if Hilary wasn't around, Ray would. I kept walking towards my home-room. I looked up and walking towards me was Kai Hiwatari. He didn't look as pale as yesterday, but he had a worried expression on his face. He stared at me as we walked closer to each other. I looked away. I felt his eyes still on me. I turned around. Kai Hiwatari wasn't late for once.

$%^

I sat on the edge of my bed, staring at my closet. Hilary's journal had been burning a hole in my mind all day long. Hilary had mentioned countless times that she did have a journal and I had always been curious to what she'd write in there. Hilary wasn't exactly a secret keeper and told me everything about her life. Her relationships with boys. Her relationship with her mother. Her thoughts on everything and everyone. Her journal wouldn't be that much more different to what she said right? I bolted up and grabbed it out. I closed my eyes and breathed in. I opened the cover and read the date at the top. January 21st.

_I am going down the yellow brick road of loneliness.  
Nobody understands what I think.  
I feel like I'm all alone in this world.  
Not even Mariah would understand.  
She's never alone. Ray's always with her or I am.  
Mariah is the loveliest person in the world, but I can't explain this to her.  
She just wouldn't understand.  
She'd think I'm some kind of weirdo.  
Some kind of emo kid. Someone who just wants attention.  
I don't want attention. I just don't want to be alone._

I stared at the first entry. My best friend couldn't even trust me with her thoughts. What kind of best friend was I if she couldn't? I closed the journal and placed it in my bedside table. I couldn't read anymore. I could barely stomach the first entry. I leaned back on my pillows. I knew Hilary but I had the feeling I really didn't know her. I now was on a mission to find out.

I hadn't confronted Tyson yet to see if he had gone to the movies with Hilary. Luckily he was in the library during study hall. I had told my gym teacher that I was having "troubles" and needed to desperately sit down. I walked into the library, looking for the familiar yellow and red cap and loud noise but I found instead, the cap next to his book bag and him being quiet for once in his life. I dropped down into the seat in front of him. "Hi." I said, giving him a smile as he looked up.

Tyson leaned back in his chair. "What are you doing?" He asked. Tyson and I weren't exactly on good terms. Even while he was dating Hilary. They dated for almost two years until he dumped her on the first day of school last year. He didn't exactly give her a reason but I had the feeling huge had been the demise of their relationship. "Look, I don't know where she is."

"Did I ever said you had something to do with it?" I asked. I reached into my back pocket and grabbed the ticket. "Did you go to the movies with her the night before she disappeared?"

Tyson looked down at the ticket and looked back up. "Yes I did. But she invited me. She said she had something to discuss with me."

Hilary had gone with Tyson to the movies. What the... "What did she have to say?"

"We're not getting back together if that's what your wanting to ask. And what she said, I can't repeat. Her words."

I slammed my hand down on the ticket, sliding off the desk and back into my pocket. "Why can't you?"

"Because she said that there will be a time when you'd come to me and ask me why I was with her and what she said. She said not to ever tell you anything except this, Nevermind."

I looked at him. "Nevermind?"

He raised his hands up. "Don't ask me."

I looked away. Outside it was starting to rain. Kai Hiwatari was just outside the window, on his phone. He still looked worried, you could tell by the way he was pacing and frowning. Did Kai Hiwatari have something to do with Hilary's disappearance? I am going to find out.


	2. How to realise you never had a clue

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade or any characters.

A/n: So it took me a year and bit to post chapter two. Sorry!

Chapter Two: How to realise you never had a clue.

Hilary had now been missing for five days now. Still no sign, no clue where she had gone. Her mom was been looked after by my mom. So we spent almost all our free time at the Tachibana's, helping Hilary's mom try to look after herself. I hadn't gone back up to her room or looked at her journal, which I kept in my backpack. I stared at my maths homework. I was having trouble concentrating, and just not on my homework. In class, while driving (which was scary because I was afraid of wrapping my car around a telegraph pole), during lunch, while making out with Rei (that may have been his fault). I was becoming a wreck. I wasn't sleeping. I was driving myself insane with questions involving Hilary's disappearance. I shut my textbook shut and put it in my backpack. I saw Hilary's journal. Why was I doing homework while I could be working out my best friend's logic for running away. I grabbed my bag and went into the living room. "Is it okay if I go up to Hilary's room?" I asked Miss Tachibana.

She looked up and smiled. "Of course Mariah." She said. My mom smiled at me. I turned around and walked up the stairs. Hilary's mom was tough, and she had my family's support through anything. She and my mom had been friends since they met when Hilary and I entered kindergarten. I pushed Hilary's door open and closed the door quickly. If I could imagine, it smelt worse. Probably from the lack of air. I dropped my bag and walked towards her bookshelf. "Nevermind" was probably the most constant thing on my mind. Tyson had dropped that three days earlier. It was odd that Hilary had gone to the movies with him the night before she went missing. Tyson and hers breakup was kind of nasty. He practically shunned her afterwards, wanting nothing to do with her. I remember the stare he gave me one day afterwards and I remember the hairs on the back of my neck standing up, but at the same time it felt like it wasn't exactly directed at me. I shuddered at the memory. Tyson had been good with Hilary. He kept her out of trouble, kept her happy and treated her like a princess. So what happened? I stared at Hilary's dresser. There was a snow globe and it looked expensive. There was a snow angel inside. The whole thing was breathtaking. I picked it up and shook it, making the flakes fall around the angel. I looked at the bottom for a price indicator so I could maybe convince Rei to buy me one like it. There was no price tag, but a small, drawn on on heart. I put it back down before I dropped it. I turned around. I needed to know what "nevermind" meant and it was obviously in this room. It wasn't a title of a book or of a DVD. I stared at the CD rack. I hadn't checked them yet. I quickly scanned the rack, there near the bottom was Nirvana's "Nevermind". I slid the case out and opened it. There inside was a photo of a few of us in grade nine. Rei and I were on one side, a little awkward to be so close to each other cause we had just started going out, Tala Valkov was next to Rei, winking at the camera, Tyson was next to him, then Hilary and then a scowling Kai Hiwatari. I closed the lid and put the photo in the notebook I was writing in about Hilary's disappearance. What was she trying to tell me about this photo?

I rubbed my eyes as I walked down the hallways between period three and four. I had barely slept, instead kept thinking about to when that photo was taken. It was one of our very few photos as a group and if I remembered correctly Max took it because he wasn't in it. He was Tyson's best friend. All I remember about the photo was that I was excited to be at my first high school party and that I was with Rei and extremely nervous even just to kiss him. I walked into the library and checked in for study hall. I picked a quiet table all the way up the back away from everyone else. I pulled the notebook, where I had written a few things and put the photo. I had a similar one at home except someone else must have taken the photo cause Max had jumped into it.

"Hi." I looked up. Emily York was standing right next to the table, smiling. I slammed the notebook shut.

"Hi." I replied. I hadn't really spoken to anyone since the day Hilary went missing.

Emily sat down in front me. "How are you?" She asked.

I shrugged. "I'm alright."

Emily shifted in her chair. "You know I used to help Hilary with her homework?" I shook my head. Just another thing I had no clue about. "Well, I have. Since tenth grade. At first it was doing all of her homework and then she started wanting to do it, but she was behind in the actual knowledge so she asked if I would tutor her."

"When did she... change her mind?" I asked if I kind of already knew the answer.

"About mid way through grade ten. I think she had just started dating that Tyson guy." Emily said, pushing her glasses back up her nose. "I think I know what your doing. Your searching for the answer of why she went missing."

I narrowed my eyes. Emily was probably the smartest girl in our grade. She got good grades and didn't care if people gave her shit for being a nerd, which gave her points in my book. "No, I'm not."

"Your a bad liar, Mariah." Emily said, opening the notebook to where the photo was. "I'm not going to tell anyone, I promise. I'll help you. I'm good with computers and I like a good mystery."

I yawned. "Okay, so this is what I know so far..."

#####$$$$$%%%%

It was after school and I could barely keep my eyes open. Emily told me to keep reading Hilary's journal, as she speculated that it kept a much bigger to clue why she was gone and that it wouldn't be a big intrusion to her privacy, after all she was one who left without saying goodbye or why. What I needed to do first was have a sleep but as I walked towards my car I noticed Tyson with Kai Hiwatari and it didn't look friendly. I hid behind the wall so I could listen on.

"Mariah is looking for answers of why she's gone and you know, pretty soon she's going to be asking why she never knew."

"I wasn't the one who kept her in the dark. It wasn't my choice, she's not my friend. You go find Hilary and ask her why she never wanted people to know."

"Have you spoken to her?"

"No. I haven't heard anything."

Tyson laughed. "Yeah, sure you haven't."

I poked my head around the corner. Tyson had walked off, leaving Kai standing there. I started walking towards the car park when I noticed him watching me. I looked at him and he turned away.

$$$$$$%%%%%#####

I finally slept a good night's sleep. Probably because I haven't been actually sleeping for than four hours a night. I walked into school refreshed but curious. I wanted to confront Tyson and Kai about yesterday's argument but at the same, I knew it would just bring more questions and leave some unanswered and me realising that I still don't have a clue about anything.

"Hey babe!" Rei said as I walked up to his locker. "I've been missing you..." He said giving me a kiss.

I pushed my hair behind my ear. "I've missed you too."

"Want to do something tomorrow night?" He asked me. I had missed hanging out with Rei, it's probably what I need. "I know your going through a lot lately. I know she is your best friend."

"It's okay." I said. "We'll hang out tomorrow night and I'll be all yours." I smiled. Rei had been the best boyfriend since day one.

"You know what she's like, babe. She'll turn up." Rei smiled before planting a kiss on my forehead. "I've got practice this afternoon and then I'll give you a call, okay?"

I nodded. "Yep, that's okay." He gave me another kiss before walking down the hallway.

"Hey."

I turned around. Emily was standing right at my elbow. "Hi."I said.

"Read anymore of her journal yet?"

I shook my head. "I think I literally just crashed yesterday. I needed sleep."

Emily smiled and pushed her glasses up her nose. "Good, that's a good thing. What are you doing this afternoon?"

"Homework... kind of."

"Want help? I'm the one who tutors almost the entire football team on Tuesday's... except for your boyfriend. He seems to have a head on his shoulders."

"I'm going with my mom to Hilary's."

"Oh."

"I can send my mom a message and ask if you can come along. I'm sure her mom won't mind if we're quiet." I said, giving Emily a smile. Emily was the only person besides Rei and my mom who wasn't treating me like I was a fragile little doll. "I'll let you know at lunch okay?"

Emily nodded. "Okay. Have fun."

&&&&****(((((

I opened the front door to Hilary's house. "Hey mom." I called out. I poked my head around the corner into the living room. "Good afternoon." I walked around the coffee table and kissed Hilary's mom on the cheek. "This is Emily, she's in our grade at school. She's going to help me with my homework."

Hilary's mom turned to Emily. "Hello."

Emily raised her hand and gave a small wave. "Hi."

"We're going to do our homework together. Is it okay if we do it in Hilary's room?" She nodded. Emily and I walked up the stairs.

"This room smells." Emily said as she walked into the room.

"It always has." I said as I opened the window a little bit. "She used to hide food underneath her bed and would forget about it. I think the smell has permanently stained the room."

Emily dropped her bag. "Charming." She said. "She's a bit... messy."

"It makes it hard to work out what she took and didn't take." I said. "It feels like I'm intruding on her secrets but at the same time, one of her secrets is why she's missing."

"I'm sure she'll understand why your looking for her. Your her best friend and you wouldn't be looking for her if you didn't care." Emily was looking at Hilary's noticeboard. "Something is odd."

"What? It looks normal. The same, the way it always does."

"There are little holes over everything like there was a layer over the top and they're s a few pins with nothing pinned."

I walked over to her. "Explain."

Emily pointed to a piece of paper. "It looks like something was over the top of this."

"What if she just rearranged it?" Though, I had to admit, it looked like a lot of stuff was missing off it. I was used to being amazed how much stuff she had pinned to it and it looked rather bare.

"I don't know..." Emily said. "Let's get our homework out of the way."

*****#####

I was taking Emily's advice. I had gotten ready for bed and grabbed Hilary's journal. I climbed into bed and propped myself against the headboard. I opened the journal and flicked to the next page. January 22nd.

_Today has been a good day.  
Better than some days that I've been having lately._

_It's cold, too cold. Too much snow on the ground.  
I really hate winter. I wished we lived in Florida, or Texas or somewhere with a warmish winter.  
That's what you get for living in upstate New York.  
He's mood swings are giving me whiplash.  
I can't deal with it. Not that I don't have mood swings either._

_It's just so much pressure between us and I can't work out why._

_Am I doing something wrong?_

_Not possible. I'm the best secret girlfriend ever._

I shut the journal and put it on my night stand. I turned my lamp off and sunk underneath my covers. "Secret girlfriend"?

I was confronting Kai Hiwatari tomorrow. Whether he gave me answers or not.


End file.
